


more than a marriage of convenience

by Sumi



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-19 12:59:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11898243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sumi/pseuds/Sumi
Summary: Evelyn wished she wasn't just sitting there, staring at the tray of food. Yes, Evelyn wanted to have some of those tiny cakes, but she was more staring at it out of nervousness. Ignoring the King of Ferelden would be at the of Josie's list of things not to do.“Personally, I prefer the cheese,” came the sudden voice of Alistair, breaking Evelyn out of her trance.





	more than a marriage of convenience

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spookykingdomstarlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookykingdomstarlight/gifts).



They sat together in garden at Skyhold in the middle of the afternoon. Between them was a tray of food adorned with not only those tiny cakes Evelyn loved so much but also pieces of cheese and fruit beside it. Josie really did go all out for this meeting; even giving her all these etiquette lessons in the days leading up to this tea.

Evelyn wished she wasn't just sitting there, staring at the tray of food. Yes, she wanted to have some of those tiny cakes, but she was more staring at them out of nervousness even if ignoring the King of Ferelden would be at the top of Josie's list of things not to do.

“Personally, I prefer the cheese,” came the sudden voice of Alistair, breaking Evelyn out of her trance.

She finally looked up from the tray and blinked. “Excuse me?” Evelyn was so taken aback by the comment that she completely forgot to address Alistair as 'Your Majesty’. That marked the second thing on Josie's list. When she found out, the poor Lady Ambassador would fret like there was no tomorrow.

“You were staring at the food rather intensely,” Alistair pointed out. “Either, you're really finding it difficult to choose something to eat or I'm not nearly as handsome as I've been led to believe. If the latter is the case then I surely need to have a talk with my Uncle.”

A sound closely resembling a snort escaped Evelyn. It was the farthest you could get from being ladylike; a word not often associated with her. “King Alistair, you don't have to worry about any deception regarding your looks.”

“So, you think I'm handsome?” He asked, the playful, teasing tone easily detected by Evelyn. “I must admit it's a relief someone finds my nose attractive.”

“It's not that large,” she murmured, barely holding back a smile.

Alistair lifted a brow, the same teasing smile still playing on his lips. “It is as I suspected. My nose is both my worst and most distinguishable feature.”

She'd broken one of Josie’s rules a third bloody time, and all in the span of less than a half hour. While they said third time was the charm, Evelyn didn't think insulting the King of Ferelden fell into that category. Josie really would have her head. “My Ambassador is going to kill me. All those hours spent in etiquette lessons wasted.”

“My Uncle advised me it would be best to keep the jokes to a minimum. It seems those lessons were also a waste of time,” Alistair offered in what Evelyn imagined was supposed to be solidarity. She appreciated the gesture. “What I'm saying is you don't have to worry, my lady.”

Evelyn let out a small sigh of relief. “I'm glad to not be the only one inept at these sorts of things.” In the Circle, one did not have a title. They gave up such things upon entering it. She never thought living outside the circle would be possibility. Yet here Evelyn was, out of the Circle, and having an awkward lunch with King Alistair in order to discuss marriage arrangements-- among other things like cheese and the size of noses… which was definitely not a euphemism for anything.

She could easily hear the voices of her companions refuting that particular thought, but quickly shoved such thoughts out of her mind. All the behind the scenes political maneuvering and wedding planning was being done as they spoke -Josephine was a gift from the maker himself. This meeting was merely for the two to get to know each other. Still, it was no reason to veer off script and make a fool out of herself.

“I like to think that my extreme ineptitude has lessened with every passing year-- depending on who you ask.”

Evelyn laughed, understanding exactly what Alistair was trying to get at. “I could say the same about myself.”

“You give yourself too little credit, Lady Trevelyan.” Alistair said this in an assuring and firm voice. To hear it from Alistair of all people was flattering. Evelyn had long since been willing to admit the Inquisition did thrive under her leadership. However, a little self depreciating humour never hurt anyone. “You’ve proven yourself to be a very capable leader.”

“The rest of Thedas seems to have forgotten about that,” Evelyn quipped. When the Breach and Corypheus were no longer a threat, public opinion of the Inquisition began to change and some in power were calling for it’s end. To circumnavigate this, Josephine purposed the idea of an arranged marriage. 

Despite Evelyn’s reservations, the Lady Ambassador made a very compelling argument about the benefits of such an arrangement. Then, of course, the events of the Exalted Council happened. The marriage in question was being worked out at during Evelyn’s second visit to the Winter Palace but with the subsequent Qunari plot and the truth about Solas coming to light, they had little time to flaunt the possible political benefit of such a move.

The coming months had Evelyn dealing with not only the loss of a friend and her arm but also with the Inquisition. She was adamant that it would not disband. It would continue to exist in Thedas and do what it could in order to prevent Solas’s plan from coming to fruition.

“The opinion of Orlesians don’t count.” At this, Evelyn let out another less than lady like snort. She couldn’t help it. As a Fereldan through and through, jokes about Orlesians were a sure way to make Evelyn feel at ease. “Disliking Orlais is a great starting point for a marriage, I think.”

Their wedding was to happen in a little under two weeks. Josie did not push the idea after the aftermath of what happened at the Exalted Council. Once Evelyn slowly began to recover, she brought it up to the Lady Ambassador. While the anchor might be gone, the Inquisition would still continue to help Thedas. A marriage between the Inquisitor and the King of Ferelden certainly couldn’t hurt their cause.

“If I could never step foot in the Winter Palace again, I’d be thrilled,” Evelyn said, a sudden thought coming over her. “Actually, I would prefer to never set foot in Orlais again. Do you think that is in the realm of possibility?”

“Let me discuss it with Teagan, and you with your Ambassador? Surely, we'll be able to pry an answer we like out of them.”

Evelyn was sure the answer would be no but it never hurt to try. “A tag team effort then, King Alistair?” She took his sudden laugh as a yes.

It suddenly hit Evelyn then that this was not their first meeting. The first occurred when Evelyn was going forward and backwards in time while in Redcliffe. He'd been cross at the events that took place but Evelyn could not blame Alistair for his reaction.

“May I ask why you're staring at me with that expression?” Alistair asked warily. “I've offended you somehow, haven't I?”

“Maker, no! I was recalling our first meeting at Redcliffe, but for no particular reason, except I much prefer this one.”

He smiled. “Having no great threats to Thedas does make for a less stressful interaction.”

Evelyn lost track of time the more they talked. There was a suspicious lack of interruptions, which she guessed Josephine had a hand in. She gazed at the darkening sky. No sign of the Breach remained. 

It was all but a memory; albeit a vivid one for herself. Evelyn turned her attention back towards King Alistair, what remained of her left arm beginning to ache. The healer called it ghost pain.

Whenever, Evelyn's mind drifted to the events of the past two years, it would ache. By all accounts, Evelyn adjusted quite well without use of her arm. In Evelyn's weaker moments, she would cry tears of frustration. Using a staff proved difficult and Evelyn was still trying to learn how to adjust.

“Inquisitor, where did you go?”

Evelyn blinked, unsure how her mind drifted not only once but twice. She smiled, eager to forget such thoughts. They came around more than Evelyn liked. With the trauma so new, the healer said it was normal. “I was just thinking how the anchor was nice enough to leave one hand left to take in marriage. Lucky you, King Alistair.”

“Indeed, lucky me,” Alistair replied in a firm tone.

The words were enough to lift Evelyn's heavy spirit just a bit. She opened her mouth to speak but then Evelyn caught sight of Josephine. “I fear the Inquisition's Ambassador is going to remind me I have inquisitorial duties tomorrow morning. We probably have to call it a night.”

“Ah, well I do have Kingly duties to attend to once we leave Skyhold tomorrow afternoon,” Alistair said with a small smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Of course.”

Evelyn looked forward to it.

~*~

Despite strong fears that Josephine would fret herself to an early grave, Evelyn was pleasantly surprised when Josephine merely expressed her excitement at how well the tea had gone. She never even so much as blinked when she brought up the few mistakes she made. Evelyn was surprised she did not make a complete fool of herself, which was a miracle in itself.

Evelyn only had one meeting with Alistair but she could see herself quite possibly growing fond of him one day in the future. A political marriage didn't mean you automatically had to dislike your spouse and Evelyn certainly hold any negative feelings towards Alistair in the least.

The upcoming wedding is what had Evelyn concerned. She knew would be a lavish affair. It was the farthest from what Evelyn ever imagined but, then again, she never would have pictured herself as Inquisitor either.

Friends who Evelyn hadn't seen in ages would be in attendance; such as Dorian. Hearing Dorian’s voice over the crystal he gave to her just wasn’t the same. She wanted one of her best friends to be by her side for such an important, albeit terrifying, day.

Evelyn only balked at the wedding planning when it came time for the wedding dress ordeal. If it were up to Evelyn, she'd walk down the aisle in her robes. The comfortable ones, too. None of those fancier robes Vivienne bought for her. They were lovely but Evelyn felt like she would ruin them simply by looking.

She could relate to poor Cassandra who often wrote that she longed to be in armor again rather than the robes she always had to wear since becoming Divine. The robes were also flowy enough to hide the now healed stump of her left arm. Evelyn knew her future betrothed had no negative feelings about her injury but coming to terms with it herself proved to be a difficult task.

Alistair arrived at Skyhold a week before the proceedings were set to take place. Since their first -technically second- afternoon tea, they kept in contact with letters. The fondness Evelyn had once suspected was possible had began to form. It grew slowly with each interaction and words they shared. While it was intended as a political marriage, Evelyn had no doubt she would be, at the very least, content.

She, of course, greeted Alistair as he arrived but didn’t truly speak to him until they were alone, no hint of an audience around to witness what Evelyn considered to be a private moment.

“Lady Trevelyan, if you’re about to kiss me I feel it is my kingly duty to remind you of my nose,” Alistair pointed out, an obvious smile playing on his lips. “It will definitely get in the way.”

Evelyn laughed. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”


End file.
